“Bring the whole tithe into the treasure-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I open not to you the windows of the heavens, and pour you out a blessing, till there be no place for it.”—Malachi 3:10, Da.

1. What is the reason that worldly prosperity has been uncertain and shaky?

PROSPERITY does not exist without a reason. If it is a real prosperity there must be a solid basis for it. This is true of material prosperity; it is true of spiritual prosperity. Men whose hearts are fixed on gaining the material things of this world have long tried to lay the foundation for a lasting prosperity in material things and have used the best brains of this world to that end, but their prosperity has been very uncertain and shaky and they are ever fearful, nervously tense and expecting cycles of depression. There is a simple explanation for this. Their prosperity, as long as it is enjoyed, is of a selfish, one-sided kind, maintained by the wisdom of this world. It ignores the very source and the very basis for true, enduring prosperity.

2. What is the basis for true material prosperity, and upon what truth does this provable fact rest?

2 What we now say may sound strange, but with all their economic slumps and the insecurity of their present flourishing condition the materialists have no grounds for denying it and are unable to disprove it. The basis for true material prosperity is spiritual prosperity. This provable truth rests upon the fact that the one unfailing source of prosperity is the richest Person, the happiest One in the universe, the One who says: “Thus saith God, Jehovah, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and its productions, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I am Jehovah, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” (Isa. 42:5, 8, Da; AS) He, though spirit, is the Creator of all material things. He has the continuous monopoly of all material things. He controls the production of all things material. The source of all true and lasting material prosperity must therefore be spiritual. Spiritual prosperity means prospering in our relations with Jehovah God.

3. Which prosperity does the great spiritual Source put first, and why?

3 The great spiritual Source puts spiritual prosperity ahead of material prosperity as being more important, for the former is the basis for the latter. The famous “sermon on the mount” nicely sets forth that fact in these words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the great prosperous God: “Never be anxious and say: ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ or, ‘What are we to put on?’ For all these are the things the nations are eagerly pursuing. For your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:31-33, NW) Pursuit of material prosperity may lead to enjoying many things of this earth selfishly for a long or a short time, but pursuit of the spiritual prosperity will lead to unending life in an endless world of prosperity in union with the immortal Source of it all, Jehovah God.

4. What examples in the past and present do we have to make us sure of this?

4 We do not have just Jesus’ words to make us sure of this. We have a national example of this in the past and a national example of it today. The example of long ago was the nation of Israel in the land of Palestine. The example of today is the “holy nation” of Jehovah’s anointed witnesses. (Isa. 66:8; 1 Pet. 2:9) Jehovah’s witnesses an example of prosperity? Yes, spiritually! But what of all the international hatred of them and the widespread persecution of them? That goes along with the spiritual prosperity, for Jesus said: “No one has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news who will not get a hundredfold now in this period of time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, WITH PERSECUTIONS, and in the coming system of things everlasting life.”—Mark 10:29, 30, NW.

5. What prophecy foretold the illustration that Jehovah’s witnesses are today furnishing, and for what does the fulfillment of it call?

5 The illustration that Jehovah’s witnesses are today furnishing was foretold in a prophecy to ancient Israel. It stated the rule for gaining real prosperity. As this rule is contrary to the rules of this world, the applying of it calls for courage, faith and persistence and brings about a test. But it is a test that proves the rule and leads to a satisfying blessing. The prophecy setting out the rule was given twenty-four centuries ago through the Hebrew prophet Malachi in these words: “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this way,’ says the LORD [Jehovah] of hosts, ‘and see if I will not open for you the windows of the heavens, and pour out for you a blessing until there is no more need.’”—Mal. 3:10, AT.

WHY THE TEST

6. Why were the Israelites of Malachi’s day not prospering materially?

6 What was the reason for calling for this test to be made of the Lord Jehovah of hosts? Malachi’s prophecy shows it clearly. It was because the nation of Israel in the fifth century before the Christian era was not healthy spiritually. Could a nation of robbers be healthy spiritually, especially robbers of God? Could breakers of a covenant or solemn contract with him? No, for they were working against the very Source of all prosperity. So because they were not well off spiritually they were not prospering materially. The great divine Source of prosperity wanted to see them getting along well materially according to his promises in his covenant with them. But first they had to keep their part of this covenant. Notice why the only living and true God calls them a nation of robbers and calls upon them to turn about:

7. From what evil course did Jehovah call upon them to return to him?

7 “I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob [whose surname was Israel], are not consumed. From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with the curse [rather, With a curse have ye been cursing, Ro]; for ye rob me, even this whole nation.”—Mal. 3:6-9, AS.

8. How could they be said to be robbing God, and what was shown to be their attitude toward God’s altar and name?

8 When a nation enters a covenant with Jehovah God and comes under the command to offer certain sacrifices and then selfishly refuses and fails to offer up the kind of sacrifices required, that nation is cheating; it is robbing God of his due and thus breaking the covenant. The terms of the covenant required that only sound, unblemished animals be offered and accepted for Jehovah’s altar. (Lev. 22:21, NW) Malachi’s prophecy pointed out that they were offering blind, lame, violently torn, sick and lean animals and their priests were accepting such for Jehovah’s altar. His altar is as a table and the sacrifices offered on it are as food to him. (Ezek. 41:22; Num. 28:2, NW) In view of this both the people and the priests were showing contempt for his temple table; they were offering polluted food upon it. They were not thinking much of his name; they were despising it. They were giving it no glory. Theirs were certainly not “offerings in righteousness” and hence were not “pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years,” when the first temple was built and inaugurated on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem by King Solomon. (Mal. 1:6-8, 12-14; 3:3, 4, AS; 2 Chron. 3:1-3; 5:1-14; 7:1-3) When they were thus cheating God and the careless priests gave the impression that he did not mind, how could they rightly expect to receive the blessings promised in the covenant to only faithful, appreciative worshipers of Jehovah God?

9. So under what did they come, and how was this made evident?

9 Instead of the blessings, they came under the curse against which God had warned them in the covenant. Their crops in the field did not come to full fruitage; locusts and other pests devoured them. Their vines had the grape clusters shrivel up or they dropped the grapes before the time of vintage. Nations round about had no visible reason to call them a happy people and their land delightsome. They did not enjoy material prosperity because they did not seek spiritual prosperity first.

10. What was the primary reason for restoring the remnant of Jews to their homeland, and how did Cyrus’ action show this?

10 The Israelites had come to forget or overlook the main purpose for which they had been freed from Babylon and restored to their native land in Palestine in 537 B.C. The reoccupying of the land of Judah and Jerusalem that had lain uninhabited for seventy years and the transforming of it from a jungle and desolation into an earthly paradise was not the primary reason for God to have the conqueror of Babylon free them and send them back home. The primary reason was to restore them to their spiritual privileges and obligations, to rebuild the temple to Jehovah at the place where he had put his name and to worship him there. King Cyrus of Persia, the conqueror of Babylon, in the first year of his reign published a decree and in it told the Jews why he was freeing them: “This is what Cyrus the king of Persia has said, ‘All the kingdoms of the earth Jehovah the God of the heavens has given me and he himself has commissioned me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God prove to be with him. So let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of Jehovah the God of Israel—he is The [true] God—which was in Jerusalem.’” (Ezra 1:1-8, NW) Jews who did not go back made great material contributions to both the house that was to be rebuilt at Jerusalem and also to the Jewish remnant that was going up to rebuild it. And King Cyrus entrusted to this remnant the sacred vessels that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had taken from the first temple at Jerusalem, which he had destroyed. So the spiritual rehabilitation of the Israelites led to their material rehabilitation in their own native land. No question about that!

11. What did the restored Jews set themselves to do, what followed their neglecting to finish the work, and what question arose when they did finish it?

11 Immediately on returning to Jerusalem they set themselves to fulfilling their prime purpose. The altar to Jehovah—his temple table—was rebuilt and the foundation of his second temple was laid on the site of the first. When outside enemies interfered, the temple builders laid off from the work. What followed upon this faithless neglect of Jehovah’s house? During the sixteen years that the temple lay uncompleted, barely begun, they did not prosper materially, not to speak of prospering spiritually. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah called this to their attention. So they defied their enemies and resumed temple building. Then God began blessing them again materially in keeping with his covenant. In 516 B.C. the temple was completed and inaugurated. Now they had Jehovah’s temple again with its acting priesthood and its Levites, the assistants to the priests, and its Nethinim, the non-Israelite temple slaves. Would they continue to keep spiritual matters first, with the correct understanding that the spiritual comes before the material and that the material depends upon the spiritual? During the days of the Jewish governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua, yes.

12. After the days of Zerubbabel and Joshua what did they become, and what did this condition of theirs kill?

12 But after the days of these faithful, spiritually-minded men the Israelites began to lose their appreciation of the pure blessings of the worship of Jehovah God. They set their hearts more on material things. They became materialistic. Their materialism killed their spirituality. They thought that by pursuing materialism at the expense of spirituality they would increase their material things. Just the reverse! Their materialism also killed their material prosperity, for it ignored the Source of prosperity. Jehovah God does not bless materialism. He curses it.

13. For what reason should we today examine those ancient examples?

13 “Now these things became our examples, for us not to be persons desiring injurious things, even as they desired them. Now these things went on befalling them as examples and they were written for a warning to us upon whom the accomplished ends of the systems of things have arrived.” So said the apostle Paul, who also quoted from Malachi’s prophecy. (1 Cor. 10:6, 11 and Rom. 15:4, NW) So we must examine how these ancient examples apply to us today, for we have been living in the “time of the end” of this system of things since A.D. 1914. The train of events since then, beginning with World War I and all foretold by Jesus Christ, proves that.

14. Of whose coming did Malachi warn the Israelites, and how does this explain the searching judgment process that is taking place with all religions?

14 Another thing: Because of the selfish, ungodly materialism of the Israelites the prophet Malachi warned them that the Lord Jehovah God would suddenly come to his temple accompanied by his Angel or Messenger of the covenant of blessing, and then He would be a judge and swift witness and executor against the faithless materialists among the people who claimed to be his. (Mal. 3:1, Da) Jesus, after his forerunner John the Baptist had died, showed that Malachi 3:1 had a fulfillment in his day as an example of warning to us in this day when the greater and final fulfillment comes. (Matt. 11:10-15; 17:10-13) The book You May Survive Armageddon into God’s New World, released last June, and the article “Jehovah Is in His Holy Temple,” published in the November 15 English issue of The Watchtower, prove that Jehovah came accompanied by his Angel of the covenant, Jesus Christ, to the spiritual temple in the spring of 1918. This accounts for the searching judgment process that is going on at Jehovah’s temple, exposing the empty philosophies, false man-made traditions and demonic teachings of all the religions that are a part of this old system of things.

15. With whom did the judgment from the temple begin, and why?

15 Remember, however, that the people whom Malachi warned were those to whom God had said: “Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah.” (Isa. 43:10, 12, AS) So the judgment began first with Jehovah’s witnesses after he came to his spiritual temple in 1918. At that time they came into great trials because of the persecutions that were heaped upon them, particularly by those nations embroiled in World War I. Then especially they came into a captive, exiled condition like that of the ancient Israelites in pagan Babylon. There was an ensnaring, bondage-bringing “fear of man.” This resulted in a neglect of Jehovah’s spiritual temple, which is made up of his anointed witnesses. Under the restraints of the fear of men these were hurting their own spiritual interests, hence the interests of God’s temple class; and the temple service or God’s assigned work for them was not being done. To them the Bible says: “Do you not know that you people are God’s temple and that the spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you people are.” (1 Cor. 3:16, 17, NW) But the remnant of the temple class on earth were not giving the temple service the due support because of selfish fear of man and man’s governments, who were trying to destroy this remnant of the temple class. Hence Jehovah’s judgment at his spiritual temple had to begin with this anointed remnant of his witnesses.

16. What questions confronted the anointed remnant on their release from antitypical Babylon in 1919, and on what invitation did they act?

16 In 1919 Jehovah God by his Greater Cyrus, the reigning King Jesus Christ, delivered his witnesses from this modern Babylonish condition of bondage to worldly men. Quite a number of them came out of literal prisons where they had been confined for their religious faith. Now what would they do? The postwar world was now open before them with all its opportunities for trying to rebuild this old, war-torn world under its new League of Nations and give it an artificial prosperity. Would they now join this world in its materialistic desires and pursuits? Was that what they had been praying for when they were under Babylonish captivity and longing to be free? Was that why Jehovah’s Greater Cyrus had set them free? From a materialistic standpoint the worldly opportunities were very inviting. But God’s invitation and command to them was: “Bring the whole tithe into the treasure-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I open not to you the windows of the heavens, and pour you out a blessing, till there be no place for it.” (Mal. 3:10, Da) The temple remnant acted on God’s invitation to test him. How?

THE SPIRITUAL “WHOLE TITHE”

17. In what way was God asking for no more than he had covenanted for, and who was a worthy example of obeying this feature of God’s law?

17 Jehovah God was asking for no more than he had covenanted or contracted for. In the laws of his covenant with Israel Jehovah commanded the nation to give him a tithe or tenth of all their increase: “Without fail you should give a tenth of all the produce of your seed, what comes forth on the field year by year.” (Deut. 14:22, NW) Jehovah God placed his name upon the temple rebuilt at Jerusalem. Therefore the tithes or tenths had to be brought there and deposited in the treasure house or storerooms there. “To the place that Jehovah your God will choose out of all your tribes to place his name there, to have it reside, you will seek and there you must come. And there you must bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tenth parts and the contribution of your hand and your vow offerings and your voluntary offerings and the firstborn ones of your herd and of your flock. And there you must eat before Jehovah your God and rejoice in every undertaking of yours, you and your households, because Jehovah your God has blessed you.” (Deut. 12:5-7, 11, 12, 17-19; 14:23, NW) God deserved the best: “The best of the first ripe fruits of your ground you are to bring to the house of Jehovah your God.” (Ex. 23:19, NW; Deut. 26:2-4, 10, 12) Hezekiah (king 745-716 B.C.) was a worthy example of a ruler of Jerusalem who had Israel obey this feature of Jehovah’s law.—2 Chron. 31:2-16.

18. Why was the tithe to be paid to the Levites, and how was the material condition of the Levites affected by payment?

18 The tithe or tenth was required of the twelve tribes of Israel in order to support the tribe of Levi, whose males directly served God at his temple as priests and Levites. “And to the sons of Levi, look! I have given every tenth part in Israel as an inheritance in return for their service that they are carrying on, the service of the tent of meeting. . . . in the midst of the sons of Israel they should not get possession of an inheritance. For the tenth part of the sons of Israel, which they will contribute to Jehovah as a contribution, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance.” (Num. 18:21-24, NW) Thus nine tenths of its increase remained to each of the twelve tribes, and the tribe of Levi got all together twelve tenth parts. As the nation of Israel prospered, the Levites were bound to prosper if the whole tithe were paid them.

19. How did the tithing requirement apply to the nonpriestly Levites, and what did the tithes enable the receivers to do?

19 Even the nonpriestly Levites were required to pay tithes, to the priests, of the family of Aaron the Levite. “And you should speak to the Levites and you must say to them, ‘You will receive from the sons of Israel the tenth part that I have given to you from them for your inheritance, and you must contribute from it as a contribution to Jehovah a tenth part of the tenth part. . . . In this way you yourselves also will contribute a contribution to Jehovah from all your tenth parts that you will receive from the sons of Israel, and from them you must give the contribution to Jehovah to Aaron the priest. From all the gifts to you, you will contribute every sort of contribution to Jehovah, of the very best of it, as some holy thing from them.’” The tithes were like wages to them: “You must eat it in every place, you and your household, because it is your wages in return for your service in the tent of meeting.” (Num. 18:25-32, NW) “And the priest the son of Aaron must prove to be with the Levites when the Levites receive a tenth, and the Levites themselves should offer up a tenth of the tenth to the house of our God to the dining halls of the supply house. For it is to the dining halls that the sons of Israel and the sons of the Levites should bring the contribution.” (Neh. 10:38, 39, NW) Thus the payment of the whole tithe enabled priests and Levites to devote their time and strength to doing their duties at Jehovah’s temple; it kept the temple service going full scale.

20. Failure or refusal to pay the whole tithe was, in effect, what? How did Nehemiah show it affected Jehovah’s temple servants?

20 The refusal or failure to pay the whole tithe was a robbing of Jehovah God, for it was a holding back of what he had covenanted for and deserved. (Lev. 27:30) It was a failure to support his priests and Levites in their service at his temple; it resulted in a lessening of his working staff and of their activities at his temple. It was a neglect of his sacred house and of their spiritual interests. It affected Jehovah’s temple servants just as Nehemiah, governor of Judah, described it: “I got to find out that the very portions of the Levites had not been given [them], so that the Levites and the singers doing the work went running off, each one to his own field. And I began to find fault with the deputy rulers and say: ‘Why has the house of The [true] God been neglected?’ Consequently I collected them [the Levites] together and stationed them at their standing place [in the temple]. And all Judah, for their part, brought in the tenth of the grain and of the new wine and of the oil to the stores. Then I put Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the copyist and Pedaiah of the Levites in charge of the stores, . . . and upon them it devolved to do the distributing to their brothers.” (Neh. 13:10-13, NW) Robbing God as respects his tithes ended up with reduced spiritual benefits and services to Israel.

21. Why, since 1918, can Jehovah’s anointed witnesses not pay tithes according to the ancient law, and why could the Christians of the first century not pay them?

21 As Malachi 3:10 applies to the spiritual Israelites, the remnant of the temple class, since Jehovah came to his temple for judgment work in 1918, do these anointed witnesses of Jehovah have to bring literal tithes to him? No; no more than there is a literal house at Jerusalem with literal Levites and priests of the family of Aaron to which to bring such literal tithes. Malachi 3:10 had its first application to the anointed Christian witnesses of Jehovah back in the first century, from Pentecost of A.D. 33 onward. So they are an example to us. After they were anointed with God’s holy spirit on the day of Pentecost these Jewish Christians could no longer bring the literal tithes to Herod’s temple at Jerusalem. To do so would have meant supporting a material temple that God had abandoned. It would have meant supporting a priesthood that had hatefully put Jesus Christ to death and that was fighting Christianity, opposing Christ’s apostles, imprisoning them and trying to kill them.—Matt. 23:37, 38; 27:20; Acts 4:1-10; 5:17-27, 40; 12:1-5.

22. How does the record show that those first-century Christians did not tithe literally?

22 Neither did that remnant of Jewish Christians tithe to support the twelve apostles and the rest of the governing body of the congregation in Jerusalem. If they tithed or tenthed literally in obedience to Malachi 3:10, how is it that the record says that the believers “were together in having all things in common, and they went to selling their possessions and properties and to distributing the proceeds to all just as anyone would have the need”? “And not even one would say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” (Acts 2:44, 45; 4:32-37; 6:1-6, NW) Materially, this was more than a whole tithe and it did not go to just the apostles, overseers and ministerial servants.

23, 24. What is the antitypical tithe, and how did the fistful of a grain offering that the priest burned on the altar illustrate it?

23 What, then, is the tithe that must be brought into the storehouse of Jehovah’s spiritual temple by his people today? What today did the tithe or tenth of ancient Israel typify or foreshadow?

24 It is true that in Scripture ten is used as a symbol of earthly allness, entirety, completeness, but a tenth is not. The Israelite tenth did not typify the all that Christians dedicate to God through Christ. So the Israelite’s giving of the tenth does not picture our dedicating ourselves wholly to Jehovah and symbolizing it by water baptism. The Israelite tithe was not all their increase; it was a fraction, a mere tenth. Therefore it represents only a part of all that we have dedicated. Our bringing in the antitypical tithe to Jehovah’s temple storehouse is simply a token or symbol of the fact that we have dedicated our all to Jehovah as our God; it is a memorial of our dedication. It is like the memorial that the priest offered up directly on the altar to God: “In case some soul would present as an offering a grain offering to Jehovah, his offering should prove to be fine flour and he must pour oil over it and put frankincense upon it. And he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest must grasp from it his fistful of its fine flour and its oil along with all its frankincense, and he must make it smoke as a remembrancer of it upon the altar, as an offering made by fire of a smell of appeasement to Jehovah. And what is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons, as something most holy from Jehovah’s offerings made by fire.” (Lev. 2:1-3, 7-10, 14-16; 6:14-18, NW; Num. 5:25, 26) The fistful that the priest burned directly on the altar was just a remembrancer of the entire offering to God. The priest could use the rest.

25. In view of the purpose of the Israelite tithe, what, in brief, is our antitypical tithe?

25 So, too, we Christians who have become God’s people must give proof that we have dedicated our all to Jehovah through Christ, and this proof we must give year after year. This regular contribution that we give in token of the fact that we have given all that we are and have to the Most High God—this is our antitypical tithe. Remember that the purpose of the Israelite tithe was to support Jehovah’s temple and its service by his chosen priests and Levites. So our antitypical tithe is the support that we give directly to Jehovah’s temple service. We may bring this antitypical tithe into the storehouse of Jehovah’s spiritual temple in two ways.

26. How may we, in part, bring in the antitypical tithe?

26 We may, in part, bring in the antitypical or spiritual tithe by making money or material gifts to the promoting of Jehovah’s worship at his spiritual temple, the Foundation Cornerstone of which temple is Jesus Christ. (Eph. 2:20-22, NW; 1 Pet. 2:4-6) These material contributions are not held down to a tenth, neither must they be at least a tenth; they may amount to more or to less than a tenth. But they must be cheerfully given, for “God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor. 9:7, NW) We can make such contributions to the upkeep and furtherance of Jehovah’s worship by donating money to the service agency of His witnesses, the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Pennsylvania, or contributing to the expenses of our local congregation or of a larger assembly or directly to individuals engaged in some department of the temple service or to the poor who belong to Jehovah and by our gifts to whom we lend to Jehovah. (Prov. 19:17) Contributing materially is only part of tithe bringing.

27. How may we bring in the antitypical tithe as respects meetings?

27 We may also bring in the antitypical or spiritual tithe by personally participating directly in the temple worship and promoting it. Ancient temple worship meant to go with your tithe to the temple and be in contact with the priests, Levites and other Israelites there at God’s house; it was more than private worship at home. So we can bring in the spiritual tithe by attending meetings at gathering places of Jehovah’s worshipers and not only being personally present but also taking whatever part is allowed in such meetings and so building up the others there by some spiritual word or assistance; by afterward encouraging newcomers or newly interested ones, as also by aiding others to get to meetings. All this may require doing some private preparing of oneself for the temple worship opportunities. Neglecting meetings is neglecting temple worship now when Jehovah’s day draws near.—Heb. 10:24, 25.

28. How do we also bring in the antitypical tithe as respects field activity?

28 We also bring in the spiritual tithes by preparing ourselves and then going out into the field either alone or in a group to preach the commanded Kingdom message, thus showing others that we worship Jehovah and thus encouraging others to do so. The preparing of ourselves for this will be helped by our attending the congregational “service meeting” and “theocratic ministry school.” Ancient tithes went to supporting the priests and Levites. We must thus support the antitypical “sons of Levi,” the present-day remnant of Jehovah’s “royal priesthood,” in their preaching of his established kingdom and in putting his worship topmost, high above all the political and religious “mountains” of this system of things. (1 Pet. 2:5, 9) This field activity will also include advertising public meetings by word of mouth and leaflet, by attending them oneself and by helping others, whether dedicated brothers or recently interested persons, to attend. Spiritual tithing or tenthing includes our helping along the global movement of “all nations” and “all peoples” up the exalted mountain of Jehovah’s house to his temple courts, there to worship him together.—Isa. 2:2-4, AS.

29. Why does the spiritual tithe-bringing apply to the poor as well as to the materially rich?

29 This spiritual contribution, accompanied by prayer, is more important than the material contribution. All persons dedicated to Jehovah God, whether materially rich or poor, can bring in this kind of spiritual tithe into his storehouse. Whereas some may see themselves able to give only the ‘widow’s mite’ (Luke 21:1-4), they can still give the more vital spiritual tenth to temple worship by directly doing witness work according to opportunity, by offering the home for holding temple-worship meetings, or by some other valuable assistance to Jehovah’s work. The materially well supplied who can give money or goods must not think that that is enough. The money gift does not excuse them from the spiritual contribution in the way of preaching and making public declaration either at meeting place or out in the field in house-to-house work. “This good news of the kingdom” must be preached by all the temple worshipers in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and we must bring in the whole spiritual tithe by backing up the preaching and personally taking part in it.—Matt. 24:14, NW.